Pilot Buzz: 'Dirty,' 'Gossip' Looking Good

Peter Krause

Peter Krause

Peter Krause

Zap2It.com

Ten days from the start of the network upfronts, a healthy amount of buzz is beginning to coalesce around several pilots.

Predicting what will actually end up on the nets' schedules is, at best, an inexact science -- to quote screenwriter William Goldman, "Nobody knows anything." But sifting through some of the chatter about the 90-plus pilots the five broadcast networks have made this spring, several names keep coming up.

On the comedy side, where the network's needs are more pressing, Christina Applegate's "Sam I Am," about a woman with amnesia, and the workplace comedy "Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office" are contenders. ABC is also making a pilot based on the Geico"Cavemen" ads, which has received alternately good and horrid notices.

The CW's "Gossip Girl" also has a strong chance. It comes with pre-sold name recognition thanks to the series of young-adult novels on which it's based, and "O.C." creator Josh Schwartz is adapting it. The fledgling network is also liking "Reaper," a Kevin Smith-directed pilot about a guy (Bret Harrison) who hunts escapees from hell for the devil.

CBS is, as usual, officially quiet about its prospective new shows. Reports indicate, though, that the network may venture out of its comfort zone a little with Cynthia Cidre's family drama starring Jimmy Smits and the zombie dramedy "Babylon Fields."